Absolutely Nothing At All
by Xinthos
Summary: He hates how she can spend hours talking about nothing at all, but as soon as she’s quiet, he can’t help but wonder what she’ll say next. [OneShot] Slight SasuSaku.


**A/N:** First Naruto fic I've ever written, I hope I didn't spell things wrong or anything. I'm not too proud of it, and I thought it wasn't all that entertaining…but decided to post it anyway; so give me your opinion and don't forget to review! I like constructive criticism… and if you want to post a flame, go ahead. I like to laugh.

**Summary:** He hates how she can spend hours talking about nothing at all, but as soon as she's quiet, he can't help but wonder what she'll say next. One-Shot Slight Sasu/Saku

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Absolutely Nothing At All

Oh. My. God. His head was _killing_ him, his eyes were red, he looked tired, and he felt like he hadn't slept in two weeks… And she had done all that to him. In Five. Hours. Something must have been seriously wrong with her or something, how could _anyone_ talk that long? It didn't make sense, not at all. On and on and on and on… about absolutely nothing! I mean, he could have maybe understood, and maybe even put in his own opinion, if she was talking about _anything_ relevant to being a ninja… or just anything interesting at all. He tried to concentrate on the sound of his footsteps on the dirt road…

Thump, thump, thump…

It was rhythmic, soothing, relaxing even… but just when he found himself drifting into a blissful state of peace, _her_ voice would quickly bring him back. To say he was annoyed was an understatement. He was _dying_. It was a three-day trip and it had only been five hours… and already he found himself wanting to ring her neck. He glanced at her from his spot to her left, she seemed blissfully unaware of his annoyance, and he couldn't help but wonder if she knew she was talking about _Absolutely. Nothing. At. All._ In fact, he couldn't remember the last time she had talked about anything besides him… or herself. Naruto, however, seemed to be hanging on her every word. He wondered why, and made himself tune in, even if only for the smallest time.

"You know what I miss? Being a kid. I mean, I know I'm still a kid and all, but I mean being really, _really_ little. Everything was so easy then! Don't you agree, Sasuke-kun? I remember my favorite thing to do when I was little was go to the beach and eat ice cream, strawberry flavor if I remember right, because it matches the color of my hair. Ino used to go with me, too, but that was before we got into our fight. And I remember really well that she used to buy the same flavor as me, because she said she was jealous of my hair and…"

He shuddered at the subject and tuned out once again, trying and failing to pay attention to nothing but his own footfalls. Just sixty-six hour and fifty-four minutes before this trip was over… He could hardly wait.

Hours later they had finally arrived at a clearing in a small forest. It had been a few hours when they had turned off the main road, and they were now at a safe distance from any travelers or ninjas that might try and harm them. Still weary, Sasuke put up his tent and blankets, still not listening to a word that Sakura was saying. That was just the way it was, she knew it, he knew it, but still she refused to believe or give up on him. He sighed; she was too stubborn for her own good.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to go get firewood while Naruto prepares the food! You know I _love_ collecting firewood at night; it's so peaceful and quiet! The moon is so nice when it's full, it's so romantic and quiet, eh, Sasuke-kun?" He knew she didn't expect him to answer that, and she knew he wouldn't. He wondered why Naruto and her couldn't just go do it, and _he_ could prepare the food… of course he knew that saying that would offend his teammate. The only reason he didn't tell her to just _shut up!_ Was because it would disrupt the balance of their team if she got emotionally affected from his words…or so he told himself.

Together they headed out into a deeper part of the forest, picking up usable pieces of firewood, and he knew he was expected to light them on fire. What a waste of chakra, couldn't they just use _matches_? He guessed not. Sighing he bent down and picked up another stick. So far Team Seven's first mission without Kakashi-sensei was going well, except for Sakura's talking.

"Are you okay?"

"…Huh?" She giggled at the un-Sasuke-kun-ness of his answer.

"I asked if you were okay."

"Oh," he answered, finally coming out of his catatonic state, "I'm fine."

"Why'd you sigh?"

"No reason… You know you're too curious, right?" She giggled again.

"Yes, but I like curious people. How can we ever expect get answers if we don't have questions? And it's good that you're okay, because I hate it when people are sick, especially people I care about. I guess that's part of the reason why I learned to heal, because it's kind of like my way of protecting my friends without fighting."

He nodded absentmindedly at her, and she knew he wasn't listening. She kept talking.

They arrived at the campsite an hour later, to find that Naruto had eaten his ramen… raw. They shuddered at this, and agreed to wait until morning to use the firewood and make food. They could stay hungry for a night. There was only _one_ problem with Naruto falling asleep… there were two tents… he was taking up _all_ of the space in one of them. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in irritation and Sakura blushed.

"Looks like we'll have to share a tent." He said calmly, and couldn't help but notice the blush spread from her neck and up to her face.

"Uh-um yeah, I guess we do. I guess that's okay, right? I mean it's not like we'd be doing anything, right? Not that I'd ever do _that_ with someone before I got married, I mean I'm still a vir- did I just say that out loud?" She let out a nervous laugh, and he rolled his eyes and walked into the tent and prepared himself for a long night of… talking. He could already feel exhaustion coursing through his body, and he hadn't even sat down yet.

"You know I hate the dark? I've always been afraid of it since I was a little kid; I still even have a silly nightlight in my bedroom back home… and my teddy bear from when I was born. Did you have a stuffed animal like that, Sasuke-kun? Well, I don't think you'd tell me if you did so what does it matter, eh?" He really was getting annoyed now, I mean really, _really_ annoyed. He was even annoyed at being annoyed, and finally, his patience being worn down so thin it was invisible, he snapped.

"Sakura! Shut, _up_!" And for a blissful second, a whole second, everything was quiet. His voice echoed slightly through the forest, but he ignored it and glanced at Sakura who was currently looking at him like he has smacked her with his shoe, stabbed her heart, and then made out with Naruto. Oh… the guilt… Two whole seconds after he had yelled… and he was already regretting it. He heard her swallow and sniffle slightly.

"Sorry I'm so annoying. I won't talk again." And she rolled over and went to sleep. He held back a yell of frustration, he just couldn't do _anything_ right when it came to her, could he? Nope, not at _all_, and of course, Naruto (being Naruto) had slept through all the yelling. The guilt stabbed at him like a thousand knives, but he pushed it aside and rolled over facing the opposite direction of her and fell asleep, however fitful it was.

Day Two

Silence. It pierced through his ears, his brain was _aching_ and the guilt had kept him up all night, but at least she wasn't talking anymore. In fact, she hadn't talked since she had woken up, not even to Naruto who just kind of shrugged but for once kept silent. He began to wonder if she was broken, or if she would ever talk again. A world without Sakura constantly talking…that was a good thing, right? Right…? Being beyond frustrated, Sasuke wasn't exactly easy to deal with, so Naruto stayed silent as not to provoke a fight. The three continued down the road, the mission was simple and they would soon be at their destination. If they were lucky and nothing interfered with the simple retrieval mission, they could be home by tomorrow afternoon.

Five hours. _Five hours._ And still she had not talked, not even a peep or a cough or even a sigh. The guilt was so much he couldn't even push it away and ignore it. It absolutely _ached_ through his body. It had been an hour since they had reached the village, and Naruto had entered the building to retrieve the scroll, since Sasuke wasn't very sociable at the moment, and Sakura wasn't talking… Naruto was confused, but decided to keep his mouth shut for this one time.

Four hours, thirty-two minutes, twenty-one seconds. She hadn't talked. He wanted to _scream_ like a little girl and groan in frustration and complain and, and… he wanted her to talk. Oh. My. God. He _wanted_ her to talk. What had the world come to? But he wouldn't ask! He _refused_ to! He could hold out longer than her little grudge could, right? Right…? **Right!** He believed that he could. Or so he told himself.

It was evening, and the sun was setting. They set up camp about ten miles from Konoha, deciding that they didn't want to reenter the village really late at night… or early in the morning depending on how you looked at it. This time Naruto and Sasuke went to search for firewood, and when they returned they found the food prepared and ready to cook, and Sakura herself sleeping in her tent. Sasuke could have sworn he saw tear marks, but decided that he was better off believing that he didn't. The guilt was already eating him up inside. _Just one more day, and she'll start talking again. I'm sure of it._ Or so he told himself.

Day Three

It was now twelve o'clock in the afternoon, a good three hours since they had woken up, and Sakura had still not said a word; not a cough, a sneeze, a deep breath, and he was beginning to notice that not even her feet hitting the ground was making a noise. Naruto had long since run ahead of them, saying that the old man at the Raman place said that he could have a free bowl of ramen if he came before two o'clock in the afternoon… and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if he would make it in time. Ten miles wasn't a lot, but he wasn't sure Naruto knew how to read time without a watch. That would be _so_ like him.

He looked over at Sakura and sighed. Fine. _Fine._ He would say it; it couldn't be that hard right? He stopped walking and took a deep breath.

"Sakura…" She stopped walking.

"I'm sorry." He said. She stared at the sky, obviously ignoring him. He began to get annoyed.

"Sakura, I _said_ I'm sorry."

"Oh!" She said, faking surprise. "Were you talking to _me_? I didn't know I was supposed to be **listening**!" She said coldly, and despite the meaning of her words he couldn't help but feel good that he had gotten her to talk.

"What do you mean? I listen to you." He lied. It was _so_ obvious. They both knew he was lying, he probably didn't remember anything at all that she had said in the last year and a half, and she was about to tell him so.

"Sasuke, don't you lie to me. You haven't ever, _ever_ listened to a single word I've said! I bet you're not even listening now! I tried talking about things you like; ninja stuff, missions, techniques, but you always, _always_ ignore me! I bet you don't even know a single. Thing. About me." She finished. Her eyes watered slightly, but she wouldn't cry. She _wouldn't_.

And suddenly, as if by a miracle, something amazing happened. Her words had unknowingly triggered a subconscious response from him, and slowly… ever so slowly… he began to remember…

"I-I know that you… you miss being a kid… and I know that you liked to go the beach when you were little to get strawberry ice cream… because it matched your hair. An-and Ino used to go with you before you had your fight and get the same kind… because she was jealous of your hair…" She turned to stare at him, eyes wide with surprise. He himself hardly knew why he remembered this stuff, but he continued anyway.

"And…um… I know that…" He racked his brain. "I know that you like the moon when it's full because it's romantic and peaceful… and I know that you like curious people, and being able to heal things because you hate it when the people you care about get sick, and you feel like you're able to protect your friends without actually having to fight." Sakura was all out gaping at him now, eyes wide and hopeful. He searched his brain for something to continue with.

"I also remember that… you told me you didn't want to sleep with a guy before you got married… and you're a…" he coughed, and they both blushed, "A um… virgin. And I know that you're afraid of the dark but you have a nightlight at your house to help… and you had a teddy bear… mine was a tiger." He admitted, almost too quietly for her to hear. "And honestly… I'm a little afraid of thunderstorms." Sasuke rubbed the back of his head in a Naruto like sheepishness. And he stared at her. And she stared at him. And neither of them could believe, or even _comprehend_ what had just happened… And for the first time since they had met, and for the first time he actually wanted her to talk… Sakura was speechless. So he decided that, just this once, he would talk for her. And he did… about **Absolutely. Nothing. At. All.**


End file.
